Chemistry for Visiting Students

The Chemistry school at St Anne’s is relatively small (4 students/year), which makes for a friendly, conscientious and supportive environment in which to study the subject. The College also boasts an excellent Library, which is home to a comprehensive collection of Chemistry texts. As a visiting student in Chemistry at St Anne’s, you will have the opportunity to take part in our regular teaching programme for full-time undergraduates.

At St Anne’s — as elsewhere in the University — Chemistry teaching is divided into three key sub-disciplines: namely, Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry. For each of these subjects, a series of lecture courses are provided by the Department of Chemistry; this teaching is then supplemented by College-based Tutorials and also Department-based laboratory classes. Tutorials are meetings between Tutors and students which take place usually in groups of just two or three students, and for which written work is submitted in advance. At St Anne’s, Tutorials are organised jointly with Oriel College.
As a visiting student, you would normally choose to study two subjects (e.g. Inorganic and Physical Chemistry) at either first or second year level. There are roughly 4 or 5 Tutorials and 16 Lectures per Term per subject. The practical component corresponds to an additional ~3 hours per week per subject. Wherever possible, we encourage applicants to enroll for a full academic year: the individual topics covered separately in the Tutorial and Lecture teaching components do not always coincide within the same Term, but would always be covered at some point throughout the year.

An outline of the course content for each subject, in each Term, for each of the first and the second year course is provided below. Complete and up-to-date details are provided in the Undergraduate Handbook, which is obtainable from the Departmental website www.chem.ox.ac.uk/teaching/ or by emailing the Director of Studies, Dr Nick Green <nicholas.green@chem.ox.ac.uk>. In your application you should choose two subjects for each Term from the options below (and usually the same subjects for each Term).

Michaelmas Term (October–December)
Inorganic Chemistry (1st Year)
The periodic table; atomic structure and periodic trends; ionic model and structures of solids.
Inorganic Chemistry (2nd Year)
Transition metal chemistry; co-ordination chemistry; bonding in molecules.
Organic Chemistry (1st Year)
Introduction to organic chemistry; orbitals and mechanisms I.
Organic Chemistry (2nd Year)
Organic spectroscopy I; orbitals and mechanisms II; conformation analysis and stereoelectronics.
Physical Chemistry (1st Year)
Chemical thermodynamics; properties of gases and classical mechanics; the role of charge
Physical Chemistry (2nd Year)
Quantum mechanics: principals and applications; liquids and solutions.

Hilary Term (January–March)
Inorganic Chemistry (1st Year)
Molecular shapes, symmetry and molecular orbital theory; acids, bases and solution equilibria; non-metal chemistry.
Inorganic Chemistry (2nd Year)
Chemistry of the lanthanides and actinides; organometallic chemistry; structures and electronic properties of solids.
Organic Chemistry (1st Year)
Substitution and elimination at saturated carbons; chemistry of C–C ? bonds; functional group chemistry: core carbonyl chemistry.
Organic Chemistry (2nd Year)
Ring synthesis and carbohydrate chemistry; rearrangements and reactive intermediates; heteroatoms in organic synthesis.
Physical Chemistry (1st Year)
Quantum theory of atoms and molecules; reaction kinetics; electrochemistry.
Physical Chemistry (2nd Year)
Statistical mechanics; atomic and molecular spectrscopy; valence.

Trinity Term (April–June)
Inorganic Chemistry (1st Year)
Transition metal chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry (2nd Year)
Non-metal chemistry; NMR in inorganic chemistry; revision.
Organic Chemistry (1st Year)
Introduction to biological chemistry; introduction to organic synthesis
Organic Chemistry (2nd Year)
Aromatic and heterocyclic chemistry; organic synthesis II; DNA and proteins; introduction to chemistry of metabolism/bioenergy.
Physical Chemistry (1st Year)
States of matter
Physical Chemistry (2nd Year)
Rate processes; revision.

Combined Study Options.
In suitably justified circumstances, it is possible for visiting students to study a reduced Chemistry component (e.g. a single subject, such as Organic Chemistry) in order to attend tutorials and lectures in a related discipline. Recent examples include the combination of Chemistry with Medicine or with Biochemistry. Potential applicants should be aware that not all combinations will be possible, primarily due to timetabling difficulties. In all cases, it is strongly recommended that any requests for combined study arrangements be discussed with the Tutorial Office at the earliest possible juncture in the application process.